A triumvirate of Divas

It was the centenary of the birth of the too, too faboo Miss Ann Miller on 12th April...

Ann Miller & Tony Martin - Keepin' Myself For You (Hit the Deck, 1955)

...and the 90th anniversaries of both "La Superba" Señorita Montserrat Caballé (also on 12th)...

Montserrat Caballé - Hijo de la Luna

...and the lovely Elizabeth Montgomery today!

Presenting... Elizabeth Montgomery!

Every one of them sady missed.

I lived for art, I lived for love, I never did harm to a living soul

Just woke up from a long lie-in to the sad news that one of our favourite operatic voices, the lovely Montserrat Caballé is dead.

Needless to say, we adored her, and indeed "La Superba" was an "exhibit" in the Dolores Delargo Towers Museum of Camp back in 2014. It is a pity that the media can only bring itself to mention her as being famous for her (brilliant, admittedly) duet with the late, great Freddie Mercury, but such is the state of today's "culture", I suppose:

Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballé - Barcelona

There is so much more in Señorita Caballé's immense back catalogue to explore. In my tribute to the lady earlier this year on the occasion of her 85th birthday, I featured her masterful performances of works by Donizetti, Verdi and Bizet. Here she is with probably the most beautiful performance ever of this famous aria from Puccini's Tosca:

Montserrat Caballé - Vissi D'Arte (Puccini - Tosca)

Vissi d’arte, vissi d’amore,
non feci mai male ad anima viva!
Con man furtiva
quante miserie conobbi aiutai.

Which, in translation, serves as a fitting tribute to its singer:

I lived for art, I lived for love
I never did harm to a living soul
With a furtive hand
so many troubles I encountered I soothed

Brings tears to the eye. As does this - her surprising choice to cover an 80s "modern classic" by fellow Spaniards Mecano:

Montserrat Caballé - Hijo de la Luna

...and finally, the gran dama at her glittering peak, with this performance from Donizetti's Guillaume Tell:

Montserrat Caballé - Sombre foret (Donizetti - Guillaume Tell)

It's becoming a bad year for divas (we lost María Dolores Pradera - as featured here way back in 2009(!) - in May; and, from different genres, admittedly, Morgana King in March, Liliane Montevecchi in June, Cats choreographer Dame Gillian Lynne in July, and (of course) Aretha Franklin in August), but for me, the passing of Montserrat Caballé is the saddest loss of all...

RIP Maria de Montserrat Viviana Concepción Caballé i Folch (12th April 1933 – 6th October 2018)

Love is a rebellious bird that nobody can tame

That greatest of living opera stars, María de Montserrat Viviana Concepción Caballé i Folch - better known, of course, as Montserrat Caballé - celebrates her 85th birthday today!

I think a master-class in vocal perfection is called for here, by way of a celebration of this milestone for the great diva:

Montserrat Caballé - Al Dolce Guidami [Donizetti - Anna Bolena]

Montserrat Caballé and José Carreras - Brindisi [Verdi - La Traviata]

Montserrat Caballé - Habinera (L'amour est un oiseau rebelle) [Bizet - Carmen]

L’amour est un oiseau rebelle
que nul ne peut apprivoiser,
et c’est bien en vain qu’on l’appelle,
s’il lui convient de refuser.
Rien n’y fait, menace ou prière.
l’un parle bien, l’autre se tait:
Et c’est l’autre que je préfère,
Il n’a rien dit mais il me plaît.

L’amour! L’amour! L’amour! L’amour!
L’amour est enfant de Bohème,
il n’a jamais, jamais connu de loi;
si tu ne m’aimes pas, je t’aime:
si je t’aime, prends garde à toi!

L’oiseau que tu croyais surprendre
battit de l’aile et s’envola …
l’amour est loin, tu peux l’attendre;
tu ne l’attends plus, il est là!

Tout autour de toi, vite, vite,
il vient, s’en va, puis il revient …
tu crois le tenir, il t’évite,
tu crois l’éviter, il te tient.

L’amour! L’amour! L’amour! L’amour!
L’amour est enfant de Bohème,
il n’a jamais, jamais connu de loi;
si tu ne m’aimes pas, je t’aime:
si je t’aime, prends garde à toi!

Translated into English:

Love is a rebellious bird
that nobody can tame,
and you call him quite in vain
if it suits him not to come.
Nothing helps, neither threat nor prayer.
One man talks well, the other’s mum;
it’s the other one that I prefer.
He’s silent but I like his looks.

Love! Love! Love! Love!
Love is a gypsy’s child,
it has never, ever, known a law;
love me not, then I love you;
if I love you, you’d best beware!

The bird you thought you had caught
beat its wings and flew away …
love stays away, you wait and wait;
when least expected, there it is!

All around you, swift, so swift,
it comes, it goes, and then returns …
you think you hold it fast, it flees
you think you’re free, it holds you fast.

Love! Love! Love! Love!
Love is a gypsy’s child,
it has never, ever, known a law;
love me not, then I love you;
if I love you, you’d best beware!

Well deserving of her nickname "La Superba", methinks.

Que cumplas muchos más, Montserrat Caballé (born 12th April 1933)

More Montserrat here and here.

Son of the Moon

One song has been obsessively occupying my head this week.

Ever since Madam Arcati stumbled across a version of the Spanish classic Hijo de la Luna (Son of the Moon) by the sublime Montserrat Caballè, and then another version by house favourite here at Dolores Delargo Towers, Maria Dolores Pradera, I have been singing it!

I just had to share...

Montserrat Caballè - Hijo de la Luna

Maria Dolores Pradera - Hijo de la Luna

And the original 80s version:

Mecano - Hijo de la Luna

Three very different versions of a beautiful and haunting song...

Tonto el que no entienda
cuenta una leyenda
que una hembra gitana
conjuró a la luna hasta el amanecer
llorando pedía
al llegar el día
desposar un calé
tendrás a tu hombre piel morena
desde el cielo habló la luna llena
pero a cambio quiero
el hijo primero
que le engendres a él
que quien su hijo inmola
para no estar sola
poco le iba a querer

Luna quieres ser madre
y no encuentras querer
que te haga mujer
dime luna de plata
qué pretendes hacer
con un niño de piel
Hijo de la Luna

De padre canela nació un niño
blanco como el lomo de un armiño
con los ojos grises
en vez de aceituna
niño albino de luna
maldita su estampa
este hijo es de un payo
y yo no me lo cayo

Luna quieres ser madre
y no encuentras querer
que te haga mujer
dime luna de plata
qué pretendes hacer
con un niño de piel
Hijo de la Luna

Gitano al creerse deshonrado
se fue a su mujer cuchillo en mano
¿de quién es el hijo?
me has engañao fijo
y de muerte la hirió
luego se hizo al monte
con el niño en brazos
y allí le abandonó

Luna quieres ser madre
y no encuentras querer
que te haga mujer
dime luna de plata
qué pretendes hacer
con un niño de piel
Hijo de la Luna

Y en las noches que haya luna llena
será porque el niño esté de buenas
y si el niño llora
menguará la luna
para hacerle una cuna
y si el niño llora
menguará la luna
para hacerle una cuna

English Translation:

A fool is he who doesn't understand
a legend tells
that a gypsy woman
implored the moon
weeping, she begged till dawn
to marry a gypsy man
"you'll have your brown-skin man"
spoke the full moon from the sky
"but in retun I want the
the first child
that you have with him,"
one who sacrifices her child
in order not to be alone
is not going
to love it very much

Moon you want to be mother
and you can't find a love
who makes you a woman.
Tell me, moon of silver
what you intend to do
with a child of flesh
ahhh, ahhh
Son of the Moon

From a cinnamon-skinned father a son
was born
white like an ermine's belly
with gray eyes
instead of olive,
moon's albino son
"Dam his appearence!
This is not a gypsy man's son
and you won't get away with this"

Moon you want to be mother
and you can't find a love
who makes you a woman.
Tell me, moon of silver
what you intend to do
with a child of flesh
ahhh, ahhh
Son of the Moon

the qypsy believing himself dishonored
went to his wife, knife in hand
"Whose son in this?
I am sure yu have decieved me!"
and he stabbed her to death
then he went to the mountain
with the child in his arms
and abandoned it there

Moon you want to be mother
and you can't find a love
who makes you a woman.
Tell me, moon of silver
what you intend to do
with a child of flesh
ahhh, ahhh
Son of the Moon

And on nights when the moon is full
it's because the child is happy
and if the child cries
the moon will wane
to make him a cradle
and if the child cries
the moon will wane to make him a cradle

Enjoy!